Elected officials and policymakers in Ohio have plenty to work on in the coming years.

We talk a lot about the loss of population, but there’s a follow-up to that: The Buckeye State’s population is shrinking and aging.

Data projections show that by 2040, the percentage of residents 65 or older will rise to 25 percent, while the percentage of those 85 and older will make an even more significant leap.

This is not just an Ohio problem, of course.

“For the first time in our nation’s history, we will have more older people than young children,” Ursel McElroy, director of the Ohio Department of Aging, told WBNS-TV in Columbus.

That will be an unprecedented challenge to our social infrastructure — Medicaid, housing, transportation, long-term care — all while trying to also improve economic opportunities and quality of life for younger families.

Workforce shortages are already a problem. As retirements ramp up, who will work as, for example, nurses in long-term care facilities?

“The government’s going to have to step up to provide these caregivers,” Brandon Boyd, a certified senior adviser on navigating senior living options, told WBNS. “I think pay is a big potential because a lot of them are paid, you know, almost like minimum wage workers like McDonald’s. But you know, they’re offering a great service to our seniors.”

The state’s plan on aging runs through 2026. As work begins anew, a broad range of agencies is going to have to be realistic even as they get creative in figuring out how to best serve our aging population — particularly if the landscape of federal funding is also changing.

This will be a time of difficult decisions and challenging work, but it must be tackled with the full understanding that older Ohioans need the rest of us to come through for them. They’ve earned it.